Monday, February 25, 2008

Sometimes you just need a big crock full of hot chocolate pudding cake. Or at least I do.

Last Thursday was the Democratic debate and Adam and I were desperately trying to watch it. We did set the Tivo (well, we have DISH, so it's their version) but since we're both on the Internet so much (read: we can not seem to ever unplug, ever) it's better for us to see the debates semi-live. We get irritated when we see the news headlines pop up that so-and-so said this and that before we've actually gotten to see it for ourselves.

Anyhow, since we were completely ignoring the children during the time of the evening where children seem to demand the most attention, they decided to take full advantage of the situation by throwing toys, fighting, knocking things off of book shelves and generally misbehaving.

We couldn't handle another second.

So we did what all parents-of-the-year do. We bribed them with chocolate cake.

I hopped on the laptop and found an awesome crockpot chocolate cake-y type concoction that featured ingredients that we had on hand.

After pausing the two talking heads, we headed to the kitchen to whip up some chocolaty goodness.

The Ingredients:

This is an adaptation of Chocolate Obsession from MJ's What a Crock! site--which is the best blog name, ever. (edited: links are removed, the site no longer exists. bummer).

Read this all the way. It's easy to get confused. I kind of did. You need to only use some of the brown sugar and cocoa powder at first.

In your crockpot stoneware insert, mix 1 cup of the brown sugar, the cup of flour, 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder, the baking powder and salt. Wisk in the milk, melted butter and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 1 1/2 cups of hot water. Add the chocolate chips and the coconut.

Pour over the stuff in the crockpot. The chocolate chips and the coconut will fall to the bottom and you won't be able to see them. This will be a bummer.

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The Verdict.

This never really set. It very well may be because we didn't do it right. Neither Adam or I remember who helped to measure out the milk and the water. So there could be an extra 1/2 cup of something in there. Updated: nope, this is a *pudding* cake, so it's *supposed* to be like this! go figure.

It really didn't matter. The taste was wonderful. Since it never really firmed up, I kept cooking and cooking it and the kids ended up being bored to sleep by the debate. We were forced then to eat most of it ourselves, but I did save a bit for the kids to eat for breakfast.

Next time I think I want to use coffee instead of the water, watch who is measuring (doy.), and skip the chocolate chips. They completely disappeared.

Oh, I was just going to make my Grandma's Hot Fudge Pudding Cake yesterday, but decided I would eat too much myself and didn't make it. I've never had it with coconut, but that sounds good. I'll have to give this a try!BTW, do you think a Pampered Chef stoneware piece would work in place of Corningware? I do, but wanted your opinion. Don't have any Corningware.

stephanie c., I didn't put a corningware into my crockpot for this dish, but looking back, that might have helped it set. But I'm pretty sure we just didn't measure right.I would think if the pampered chef dish can go into the oven, it could go into the crockpot. Make sure to not wash in cold water right away and all that good stuff.

This is supposed to have a cake layer on top with a fudge layer on the bottom. YOu measured correctly. I made this with Bob's REd Mill GF mix and the pudding part at hte bottom doesn't set up as well, so it is more saucy, but still good. This is a favorite in our house, but due to allergies no coconut.

Different flours will make the bottom layer different consistency. With Gold Medal, it comes out too thick, with Bob's GF mix and rice flour it was a little thin, but great. We like it however we can get it!

I completely messed up on my shopping trip. I thought I lost my ingredients list, but it was in my pocket (funny in hindsight, but oy vey, lol). Guess that's a reason why you shouldn't shop when you're so tired ;-) Anyway, I remembered all of the ingredients on my list except for baking powder! I'm new to cooking, so am wondering what would happen if I didn't use any? I don't have any cream of tartar, but I do have baking soda. I really don't want to go back out, lol... Thanks =)

I substituted the baking powder with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 cup yogurt (replacing the milk). It worked fine, set completely, but was still incredibly moist. I also used a pretty large crock pot, so that may have contributed to it setting more.

On our honeymoon, we were served a wonderful thing called "warm chocolate melting cake" and I absolutely, utterly adored it. I never thought I would actually find an easy way to replicate that wonderful cake. And then I did! Thank you so much!

I added one more cup of flour and 1/4 tsp of cream of tarter, tbs of baking powder and Pecans with the Chocolate chips and two eggs and substituted 1 cup of sour cream instead of water,cooking now so we will see

Here in Australia we call that Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding. Here, pudding is a moist cake affair, like plum pudding or Christmas pudding, not the set dairy style product that American's call pudding. From the photo it looks like it turned out exactly how self saucing pudding is supposed to turn out, that is, a cake type layer floating above a layer of fudge, with the layer between a fabulous mixture of both. I'll be trying this tomorrow!

Since I was cooking Sunday dinner for once instead of just winging it with something from the freezer, I decided to add a desert. And I have found my new "legal crack".

I made a few changes, based on what I had on hand. I used Bob Red Mill's gf flour I found in the freezer (now I know why it's buried - it has bean flour; but I've found a way to bury that bitter bean flour), dark chocolate cocoa powder, walnuts, and a few seriously run down bananas that either had to be used tonight or tossed.

Here's what I did:

- I followed your directions per the first set of directions.

- Since my ADD brain forgot to add the second half of the cocoa to the bowl with the hot water, I added another two or three tablespoons (I shook/dumped). I didn't have the exact amount of brown sugar, either, so I figured the bananas would be sugary enough for me (yup - perfect!). I think I took out about 1/2 a cup.

- I didn't add the chocolate chips to the hot water (I didn't even have white chocolate chups - I just had the regular Nestle chocolate ones).

- I dumped the hot water/cocoa/brown sugar mixture on top of the original mixture in the crockpot.

- I then dumped the walnuts, the coconut, and the chocolate chips - in that order - and closed the lid. I let it cook normally, on low. As a result, the chocolate chips did not dissolve and were like a yummy frosting (like the brown sugar/chocolate chip/walnut/may be coconut topping my mom used as an alternative to frosting).

I was trying to loose weight, but I figured since I'm still struggling with walking, it makes for a most awesome bribery for myself! I may just have to lick out the crockpot ....

Before I forget, in between the first mixture and the hot water, I sliced the bananas, so they were sandwiched between the layers. Then I added the walnuts/chocolate chips/coconut layer. It makes it rather uber gooey, but really good (because after chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and bananas are the next best thing!).

I think some rum (or rum extract) and cinnamon would work on top of the bananas. Hmm, I'll have to see how much rum extract is and calculate my budget - when/if I can, I'll let you know the results!

The part that makes this "legal crack" healthy is the bananas. I used three, which only makes it that more healthier!

A friend brought this cake to a get-together, made with coffee. I thought she must have done something wrong (it never set in the middle at all and was kind of gummy in general) but judging from your review, I think the recipe just doesn't set up enough.

This worked great but I changed a couple of things. It reminded me of another recipe I made using the oven. So I followed the directions from that one with the ingredients from this one. With the mixture made in the crock pot add an extra T. of melted butter and combine until its a ball then pat down flat to cover the bottom of pot. Poke small holes in dough all over then combine 2nd half of ingredients and pour over top. Lastly, no one in our household likes coconut but me so I traded it for peanut butter chips. I combined 3/4 c milk chocolate chips and 1/4c peanut butter chips and then sprinkled them over everything, put the lid on and let it cook for 2 1/2 hours. Turned out moist and served with vanilla ice cream, chopped roasted almonds and chopped black cherries it was a hit. Its not supposed to set up completely but have more of a pudding/cake texture. Thanks for sharing this recipe! Enjoy!

You HAVE TO COOK ON HIGH. Trust me, it will set up the way it should; cake on top, pudding on bottom. I've made pudding cakes dozens of times, ALWAYS on high. I love this site and refer to it often. It makes me sad that this recipe is in the flop section when i know it can be so delicious!

Hi, I have enjoyed reading your blog. I noticed your "New Year's Resolution" about being healthy & losing weight. I found a recipe on SparkPeople. It uses regular cake mix and tofu. Here it is and you could probably find a wat to cook it in a crookpot.

Tofu Chocolate CakeSubmitted by: MEHICKS

I know, chocolate cake and tofu, together?! It's sooo tasty, and a much healthier way to eat cake! Number of Servings: 16 Ingredients1 box super moist chocolate cake mix 1-300g block of soft/dessert tofu 1/4 cup water DirectionsWith a food processor or blender (I use my hand/stick blender), mix cake mix and tofu together. Once mixed, add 1/4 cup water and blend again until smooth.Pour into baking dish and cook according to the directions on the cake mix box, depending what type of dish you use. Sometimes I make cupcakes, sometimes I make a cake and cut it into squares. DO NOT add the oil/egg/whatever else the cake mix box says you need - the tofu takes the place of all of these!

I have been making chocolate pudding cakes for decades but have yet to be brave enough to use a crockpot to make one. The receipt I use is from Company's Coming.It does look like a hot mess that is better served in bowl. As tempting as it sounds I love the crunch the top layer gets from the oven to bother messing up my crockpot since it only takes less than an hour to bake. Time is of essence when it comes to chocolate LOL.A wonderful dessert that is easy to put together and usually have all the ingredients for a heavenly chocolate treat!

I'm going to try this dairy and soy free and I'll let you know how it turns out.It's nice that it doesn't already call for eggs. Eggs are hard to substitute in a cake recipe. Perfect when you don't want to heat up your house, I think!

My dairy and soy free version worked great! I used rice milk instead of regular milk and light tasting olive oil instead of the butter. Also, only used 1.5 cups of water (there's a little confusion in the recipe whether it should be 1.75 or 1.5). I cooked on high for about 3 hours. It set up very nicely. No chocolate chips or coconut.